Ancient Future
by SilentInceptor
Summary: When Hank's Cerebro decides to become a time machine instead, Charles and Erik are sent into year 2011. Can Charles handle our smartphones and Facebook? And what does Erik really think of the Kardashians? /First Class fic/ /Bromance/
1. Hank's Mistake

**Title:** Ancient Future

**Warning: **May have eventual Erik/Charles. Playful comparisons to our past and their future. This fic is not to be taken seriously at times.

**Author's Note:** I thought about this storyline in a restaurant. I just had to rush home to write this! I thought it would be pretty interesting for the guys to see their future and be somewhat awed and disgusted by it. Thanks for taking the time to read my work.

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><p><strong>Chapter 1: Hank's Mistake<strong>

"Damn you, Hank."

"Alright now, it's no use to curse the poor fellow-"

"Right, he's not the one that's in the future."

Hank had created a machine called Cerebro to find mutants for our cause. Unfortunately, it backfired and instead of searching for mutants, it had brought us all the way to year 2011. We are now in the middle of a busy New York City, with no bloody idea what to do. Hank probably doesn't know how badly he screwed up either, and even if he does know he created a time machine, he wouldn't know which year we went into.

I sighed. Running my fingers through my dark brown hair, I bit my lip. I honestly didn't want Erik to find out I was at a loss at what to do, because I didn't want to upset him further. His mind was in a current state of frenzy (I only knew that thanks to my mind-reading), which, to me, was an unseen side of confident, cool Erik. I patted his shoulder in consolation, to which he responded by trying to ineffectively suppress a small smile. I rolled my eyes inwardly. The man wouldn't even let me indulge in a little smile from him.

"For Pete's sake, would it hurt you to grin?"

"Well," Erik cracked his knuckles, "It would, if it was directed at you."

I raised an eyebrow.

"I speak but the truth," A smirk played on his lips. God, Hank just had to teleport me to the future with this bozo.

I could barely recognise the streets anymore. The hustle and bustle of New York City had certainly multiplied tenfold since the 1960s. The roads look more like a car convention and people looked as if they were perpetually out of breath as they carried what looked like portable communication devices. At least that was what I think it was.

And the skirts on those girls...

"At least be discreet if you want to look at their legs." Erik shot me a triumphant look as he caught me staring.

"Someone's a little jealous, I see."

Erik scoffed, "I think someone's running out of comebacks."

We stopped right outside a shopping centre.

I felt a tug at my hand, "Come on, we need to grab some things,"

"Erik, you keep forgetting our credit cards would have been _expired _by now. It's been 49 years-"

He smirked.

"I got cash."

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><p>Both of us stared at it. Its rectangular shape was small and compact, and it was metallic silver in colour. Several people had gone up to the cashier to pay for some of these, and both of us just had to have a good look at it. Oddly enough, it had a symbol of a half-eaten apple on the cover of the object. I narrowed my eyes, scrutinising the mysterious thing.<p>

"Its insides must be metal," Erik quipped, seeing as he easily lifted it without his hands. As I scanned the description on the right of the table, I raised my eyebrows in fascination.

"It's called an Apple laptop... Th-this is a breakthrough in science and technology, Erik! Oh, what a lovely surprise! And we thought whatever is to be invented had already been invented," I animatedly gestured towards the laptop. I delightfully held the computer in my hands, feeling the very smooth surfacing of the product. Out of the corner of my eye, I could imagine Erik staring at me amusedly, as if I was his dumb brother who hadn't seen much of the world. I sighed.

"Stop looking at me like that," I muttered under my breath. People walked past us in the shop, often with curiosity coupled with amusement. I even heard a girl gasp in horror. There goes my credibility as a professor.

"This must cost a ton."

"Is money all you care about?"

"Right now, with only 200 dollars in my pocket, it is."

"You said you had a lot of money!"

"Back in the 1960s, 200 dollars was a lot of money, remember? Now a bloody sweater costs more." Erik shook his head. He rubbed his chin, trying to think of what they could do now. He then moved the mouse to reveal a whole library of digital songs on the computer. I was thoroughly impressed. He clicked on the first track.

"...This is music?" Erik blinked. I read the title:

**Like A G6 **_by_Far East Movement

"Isn't G6 a plane?"

"We must have run out of love themes to write about." Lehnsherr commented.

I squinted at the screen.

"Who's _Michael Jackson_?"

Then, I heard the distinct clicking of high heels behind me. I normally wouldn't have cared, but Erik's eyes suddenly widened to the size of a football. He almost looked grateful. Nothing makes him grateful. Not even my saving of his life.

That was when I turned around and got the shock of my life.

"_RAVEN_?"

**End of Chapter 1.**

**SilentInceptor.**


	2. Generation Gap

**Warning:** Just a tiny bit of swearing.

**Author's Note:** Thanks for such a warm response for my first chapter! This one was inspired by my friends and my parents - and perhaps you'll understand why later on! Generation gap is such a tragic thing, tsk. Hope you enjoy this one!

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><p><strong>Chapter 2: Generation Gap<strong>

"So, let me get this straight," Alex Summers mumbled as he took a bite out of his cookie, "You guys-"

"Got lost in time," Charles finished his sentence in between sips of his Earl Grey.

"…Because of this bozo?" Alex glanced over at Hank, who sat a couple of seats away from him. The latter rolled his eyes in disgust. Charles grinned. It seemed like they weren't in the future at all, for nothing had changed.

"Yes Alex, do we _have_ to repeat it again?" An irritated Erik Lehnsherr spat back. The man preferred to stare at the ground, avoiding eye contact as he said it. He felt uncomfortable chiding an elderly Alex, albeit he still acted just like the arrogant youngster he was 47 years ago.

When an older lady approached them at the computer shop (you know the one with the half-eaten apple on it), the last thing Erik and Charles expected was to see was a familiar face. What was more disturbing to the boys was that, Raven appeared very much older than the both of them. She no longer looked like the pretty and vivacious teenager before, but rather a very elegant and dignified individual, who was much more matured in both her looks and mannerisms. Charles had to blink several times before he convinced himself that she was real.

"I'm just glad you're alright. When I first saw you at the mall, I thought it couldn't be," Raven hugged Charles tightly. He felt a shiver down his spine as her wrinkled skin brushed against his.

Hank heaved a sigh of relief, "We thought we would never find you again,"

Erik shot him a glare. If looks could kill, Hank would have withered there and then.

"Is there any way to get back then?" Charles questioned as he placed his cup of tea down on the table.

"Well," Hank adjusted his spectacles, "The only way I know of is to try to replicate the cerebro again,"

"I will _NOT _get into that machine again," Lehnsherr growled. There were times when he wished the guy wasn't such a genius. It probably would have saved him the trouble of time transportation.

"You know, it feels weird having to help the both of them fix their problems," Sean shrugged, "it's always the other way round in the past."

"Well, we _are_ older than them now," Alex smirked.

Erik scanned the both of them with an eyebrow raised. With their eye bags and their snow white hair, they might look older than him, but they sure do act decades younger.

"If that's the only solution, we're prepared to wait," Charles's lips curled in a smile as he glanced across the dining table, "In the meantime, care to show me how to work the machine?"

Alex rolled his eyes.

"It's called a _laptop_, grandpa!"

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><p>"Fascinating!"<p>

"Charles, if you gasp in amazement at _that_ thing one more time, I will-"

"So you see, all you need to do is to click to accept friend requests, and…you got a friend! It's easy," Hank chuckled as Charles excitedly punched the keyboard. Erik peered over the latter's shoulder, unimpressed by the apparent 'social networking website', as they named it.

"It's called _Facebook_?"

"Oh Erik, stop being so critical of everything," Charles's eyes lit up as he hovered the cursor over various pictures, before quipping, "Alex looks drunk in this one,"

"For God's sake, did you show that man my Facebook?" A familiar voice shouted across the hall.

"Don't think I don't know you've been snooping around mine, you asshole!" Banshee could be heard from the kitchen.

"Now, c'mon, you know I don't do that anymore!"

"You guys, get over yourselves, _Facebooking_ is lame," Raven said as she passed the lot another round of tea.

"My God, you're using it as a verb," Erik buried his face in his hands in despair and exasperation, "And by the way, did you know 'lame' means walking with a limp?What does _'c'mon_' mean anyway?" Lehnsherr muttered under his breath. He doesn't remember the last time they used a proper sentence structure.

"Look! You can even zoom in and out of the page, Erik!"

"Ah! You can even record videos from this tiny little camera here!"

Hank laughed, "There's even such a thing called photo shop, where you can digitally enhance photos."

"You've got to be kidding."

Alex shook his head as he nudged Erik, "You're really from the stone age, aren't you?"

Erik sighed.

This was going to be a long day.

**End of Chapter 2.**

**SilentInceptor.**


	3. Not Again, Alex!

**Author's Note:** Please forgive me - there is no excuse for updating this late (A year, crikey), so I shall not make any. I just hope you'll enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! And not to worry. It won't happen again. Exams just ended, and I have a 9-month long break before University starts. Till then, I'm all yours!

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><p><strong><span>Chapter 3: Not Again, Alex!<span>**

Erik impatiently tapped his fingers across the wooden table. It has been two hours and Alex was _still_ in the washroom. What was there to do in the _washroom _anyway?

"Alex, it has been **two frickin' hours**, let me in!" Sean hammered against the door, "You are 80, not _eighteen_, there really isn't much hair left to style, you know."

Muffled, ominous sounds could be heard from the bathroom. Erik placed his hand over his face as he turned away from the television. To think that he had been forced to watch this piece of garbage for what seemed like an eternity while they couldn't stop arguing over who should use the bathroom.

"What are you watching, Erik?" Charles sat down beside him, his left hand holding a mug of coffee while he gently stirred it with his right. Erik exhaled deeply.

"I don't know what I have been watching these past few hours; all I know is that a couple of people are trying to look cool in front of the camera. They aren't even good looking, for goodness' sake."

"Not as good-looking as me, eh?" Charles playfully winked at the older man, as the latter's cheeks turned slightly red.

"_Excuse me_," Alex sighed as he settled down in between the two men on the sofa, "I would like to watch my daily dose of the Kardashians, please."

Charles squinted.

"Is that what they're called-"

"_Shhh,_ I need to hear them speak!" The elder snapped. No one could disrupt his TV schedule. _No one._

Erik rolled his eyes. He could never understand the obsession these youngsters had with 'reality TV', as they called it. There was no value in such entertainment at all.

"Hey, Alex, did you see the E-online special about Michael Fassbender?" Raven could be heard from the kitchen.

"Who the heck is Michael Fassbender?" Erik raised an eyebrow as he turned to face the woman, "Do you really think these celebrities would divulge all sorts of information about themselves? It's probably all a publicity stunt, and even then I wouldn't want to know how Michael whoevercuts his hair,"

"Oh, lighten up, Grandpa," Alex patted his shoulder. Charles chuckled. It was actually kind of ironic.

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><p>"OK, so," Hank cleared his throat, "if my memory hasn't failed me, I placed a blueprint of the cerebro in the lab. The problem is, I don't know which part of my lab it's in."<p>

"Oh that's easy surely," Charles interrupted, "We just need to look for it in your lab."

"A gentle reminder that Hank's lab now is 50-storeys high," Sean tapped Charles' shoulder as the latter's jaw dropped.

"What?!"

"I turned my lab into a research facility centre," Hank nervously pushed his spectacles up, "I'm currently investing in a cure for cancer,"

"That's amazing, Hank!" Charles beamed at the boy.

"Thanks," Hank sheepishly smiled as he awkwardly placed his hands on his thighs.

"The question on my mind is – what exactly happened to the both of us?" Erik interrupted the conversation for a while as he gestured towards Charles, "Even though our younger selves teleported through time, it surely didn't erase our older selves' existence. If so, where did we go?"

As Erik finished his sentence, the entire room fell silent. Never before had he seen the group of rowdy teenagers at a loss for words – even Alex was fiddling with his thumbs as he looked to the ground. Charles furrowed his eyebrows. This is extremely frustrating considering the fact that he had promised the younger ones that he wouldn't use his mind-reading power when he had first met them. Now there's just a tinge of regret at the decision.

But before Erik could say another word, Raven broke the reverie with a hasty, "What are we waiting for? Let's go!" before hurriedly getting the group out of the house, en route to the research facility.

Both men exchanged glances. Something was amiss.

But, they decided, it was something they had to rest if they wanted to get over with this quick.


End file.
